A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
For those of you who aren't inclined to play with the numbers, I'll do it for you. 2007 could be considered the pinnacle of SD pheasant hunting in recent history. So I'd like to compare it to the 2023-24 season, using estimates published by the State.
In 2007, 181k hunters shot 2.122M pheasants, for 11.7 pheasants per hunter, the highest average since 1963.
In 2023-24, 135k hunters (a drop of 25%) shot 1.243M pheasants (a drop of 41%). But they averaged 9.2 pheasants per hunter, a drop of only 21% & the highest average since 2011.
This agrees with my experience last season. Birds were plentiful, while there really weren't terribly many people out after them. I believe had there been 25k more hunters, another 230k pheasants would've been shot, putting total harvest at almost 1.5M.
Interestingly, at least during the 2020, 21, & 22 seasons (don't know about other seasons), the most pheasants were shot in the shortest month of the season - October. January was only responsible for 5%-10% of the total harvest.
In 2007, 181k hunters shot 2.122M pheasants, for 11.7 pheasants per hunter, the highest average since 1963.
In 2023-24, 135k hunters (a drop of 25%) shot 1.243M pheasants (a drop of 41%). But they averaged 9.2 pheasants per hunter, a drop of only 21% & the highest average since 2011.
This agrees with my experience last season. Birds were plentiful, while there really weren't terribly many people out after them. I believe had there been 25k more hunters, another 230k pheasants would've been shot, putting total harvest at almost 1.5M.
Interestingly, at least during the 2020, 21, & 22 seasons (don't know about other seasons), the most pheasants were shot in the shortest month of the season - October. January was only responsible for 5%-10% of the total harvest.
